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Things to do in London
Third in a series of non-comprehensive, incredibly subjective trip reports masquerading as “travel guides.”
Recommended Sights
- Tate Modern: Awesome modern art museum in a cool building. Walk across the “Millennium Bridge” from central London (across the Thames) to get there!
- British Museum: Fantastic history museum with crazy cool artifacts. Be sure to see parts of the Parthenon, the Rosetta Stone, and the Clock + Enlightenment Rooms.
- Platform 9 and 3/4: I don’t know if you’re as big of a Harry Potter fanatic as I am, but it’s a cool photo opportunity! It’s at the King’s Cross tube station.
- Oxford: I went for a day (like 9 - 6) and had a really good time checking out the different colleges, drinking at famous old pubs, and having high tea at a small hotel near the university.
- Spitalfield’s Market: Open air market with clothes, posters, random hipster stuff, good food.
Bars I recommend
- Barts: A super cool speakeasy, located in Chelsea in this random hotel called Chelsea Cloisters. You have to make a reservation, go through a “secret entrance,” and then you’re in this tiny bar with classic cocktails (added bonus - my friends have seen Hugh Grant here!).
- Princess Louise + White Hart: Both are great places to drink near the British Museum (Holborn tube stop). Princess Louise is a classic pub, classy wood decor + atmosphere. The White Hart is also old/historic but more of a bar with good music + a bit of a dance floor.
Food
- Obika: Amazing mozzarella!
- High tea: Find a classy place to get high tea (tea + finger sandwhiches + scones). We had it in Oxford, so I can’t recommend places in London, but I thought it was really hilarious + delicious.
- Indian Restaurants on “Brick Lane” (“Curry Row”): This street has like 5 billion Indian restaurants, and there are guys who stand by the doors and try to get you to come in. You can ask them for discounts if you want - we ended up getting a free round of drinks and 20% off of our check, with minimal hassle.
- Fast casual: There are a lot of nifty “fast casual” places (kind of like Chipotle) that we don’t have in the US. I ate at Nando’s (chicken place w/ lots of sauces) and Pret (kind of like Au Bon Pain) and they were both pretty good. You can get a meal for like 5-7 pounds, which is less than $10, so not too pricey. In a city not noted for its cuisine, I didn’t feel too bad eating at a chain.
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Jaicko - Oh Yeah
I just heard this song on the radio tonight and it blew me away.
On the one hand, the song is mindless ear candy which is more than “a little annoying.” Jaicko takes an incredibly simple hook (“Oh yeah”) and abuses the hell out of it until it’s certain to get stuck in your head.
On the other hand, between the “Oh yeahs” Jaicko shows a sharp sense of self-awareness:
You don’t even know why you’re turning up your radio
Bobbin’ your head in your car, cause you feel me though
Don’t be mad cause i got you singing oh yeah, oh yeah
So does a dash of meta save an otherwise unreedemable song? Jaicko has an answer, “But now I’m making’ dollars, so i really don’t care.”
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Things to do in Rome
Along the lines of my montreal post, a non-expert’s opinion on things you should do if you’re visiting Rome.
- Go to the vatican. It’s sorta pricey and very busy, but the art + architecture is amazing.
- Throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain. Touristy, cheesy, but adorable.
- Pick up a picnic lunch at GiNa and walk up the Spanish Steps to eat it at the Villa Borghese.
- Get really nerdy about Roman History and see the Forum, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Ara Pacis… (or not… they’re awesome if you love the history, but not at all thrilling if you couldn’t care less about Augustus + company).
- Walk a bit south to Trastavere for a dinner. It’s nice and neighborhoody - a great escape from the tourist traps in the city, and super cheap.
- Eat lots of gelato!!!
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Get me some text link advertising and some waffle fries… FO FREE?
Google just offered me $100 of free advertising. It’s clearly an incredible opportunity for me to expand the reach of 2arrs2ells… but what search terms should I bid on?
Some of the search terms that have already sent me traffic include:
- “paul rudd is a douchebag”
- who mails a bobcat
- diana needs
- fuckyeahlevarburtonº
- coullotesª
- “moonlit wang”
All suggestions appreciated and almost certainly acted upon.
º Now a reality.
ª A rather embarrassing misspelling, considering the word is spelled correctly on the sign in the picture.
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![Monolith 2009 Mix
Monolith is a music festival outside of Denver from September 12-13. I’ve been hunting down music by all the bands performing since I bought my two day pass a month or so ago (thanks to Ralph for the heads up on the presale!).
I just made two Monolith mixes (because my car has no iPod connector), and I thought I’d share. If this incredible collection of musical goodness inspires you, tickets are still available and you’re welcome to crash at my new place in Denver*.
Monolith Day 1 (zip)Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will RollGirl Talk - Friday NightOf Montreal - Women’s Studies VictimsM. Ward - Big Boat V.3MF Doom - Benzie Box (ft. Cee-Lo)The Walkmen - Dónde Está la PlayaOK Go - There’s A FireThe Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come SaturdayFrightened Rabbit - Good Arms Vs. Bad ArmsStarfucker - German LoveCotton Jones - Blood Red Sentimental BluesCaitlin Rose - Shotgun Wedding
Monolith Day 2 (zip)The Mars Volta - CotopaxiChromeo - Needy GirlDeer Tick - Art Isn’t Real (City of Sin) [Courtesy of Partisan Records]French Horn Rebellion - Up All NightIda Maria - I Like You So Much Better When You’re NakedMatty G - West Coast Rocks (The Glitch Mob Remix)Method Man And Redman - Hey ZuluMSTRKRFT - Heartbreaker (feat. John Legend)Neon Indian - Deadbeat SummerPassion Pit - I’ve Got Your NumberPhoenix - GirlfriendRachel Goodrich - Dope SongThe Thermals - Now We Can SeeWale - Chillin (Catch vs 9th) f. Lady GagaWe Were Promised Jetpacks - Ships With Holes Will Sink (Courtesy of Fat Cat Records)
*Uh, assuming you’re not some random person who stumbled across this post.](http://29.media.tumblr.com/4ZhMGCwrcqxkvai5LdzMeTFVo1_500.jpg)
Monolith 2009 Mix
Monolith is a music festival outside of Denver from September 12-13. I’ve been hunting down music by all the bands performing since I bought my two day pass a month or so ago (thanks to Ralph for the heads up on the presale!).
I just made two Monolith mixes (because my car has no iPod connector), and I thought I’d share. If this incredible collection of musical goodness inspires you, tickets are still available and you’re welcome to crash at my new place in Denver*.
Monolith Day 1 (zip)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
Girl Talk - Friday Night
Of Montreal - Women’s Studies Victims
M. Ward - Big Boat V.3
MF Doom - Benzie Box (ft. Cee-Lo)
The Walkmen - Dónde Está la Playa
OK Go - There’s A Fire
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday
Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms
Starfucker - German Love
Cotton Jones - Blood Red Sentimental Blues
Caitlin Rose - Shotgun Wedding
Monolith Day 2 (zip)
The Mars Volta - Cotopaxi
Chromeo - Needy Girl
Deer Tick - Art Isn’t Real (City of Sin) [Courtesy of Partisan Records]
French Horn Rebellion - Up All Night
Ida Maria - I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked
Matty G - West Coast Rocks (The Glitch Mob Remix)
Method Man And Redman - Hey Zulu
MSTRKRFT - Heartbreaker (feat. John Legend)
Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer
Passion Pit - I’ve Got Your Number
Phoenix - Girlfriend
Rachel Goodrich - Dope Song
The Thermals - Now We Can See
Wale - Chillin (Catch vs 9th) f. Lady Gaga
We Were Promised Jetpacks - Ships With Holes Will Sink (Courtesy of Fat Cat Records)
*Uh, assuming you’re not some random person who stumbled across this post.
Photo reblogged from geesebot is pear-shaped with 24 notes
I prefer the serial comma. My employer still does not.
Aux barricades!Style rules adjusting to the web? What’s the temperature in hell these days?
I thought that was a grammatical thing rather than style? Like in a will, if you wrote, “I leave everything to Betsy, Tacy and Tib,” that could be (and actually was, I think?) interpreted in court as, “I leave half to Betsy. Tacy and Tib should split the other half.” That serial comma is grammatically mandatory!
There are some great examples of when the serial comma (aka the Oxford comma or Harvard comma) on the wikipedia page.
Traditionally, the serial comma has been shunned by journalists because of the space/newsprint it takes up (and going even farther back, the time it would take to set the type for the extra comma by hand). But even there, it’s accepted in cases where it would eliminate ambiguity (see the CJR, or if their site is still down Google’s cache). Your example wouldn’t count in the AP’s book though (I’d argue that no comma-wrangling would make the sentence imply a division other than thirds - you’d need something like “I’d leave half to Betsy and half to Tacy and Tib.” to get that effect).
<3 <3 <3 grammar nerdery.
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Reason #723 Why I Use a Mac
My MacBook speakers are pretty pathetic, so I always have the volume near maximum.
But I also use my headphones quite frequently with my MacBook, and my (awesome) headphones can get extremely loud.
You could imagine this being a big problem. Volume is cranked up for the MacBook, I plug in headphones, only to go deaf because the volume is way too high.
But no, Mac OS X actually remembers two volume settings - one for the internal speakers and one for the headphone jack. When you unplug headphones, OS X remembers the volume setting and restores it when you plug your headphones back in*. My ears are very thankful.
- There may even be a third for the digital audio output (or a USB audio output)… Does anyone know?
** This is vaguely similar to another Apple UI niceness - recent iPods automatically pause the song that is playing when the headphones are unplugged.
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C. Northcote Parkinson
Inspired by his work in the British Civil Service, Parkinson penned two laws on bureaucracy which bear his name today:
- Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
- Simple decisions are more prone to pointless bickering than complex ones.
Some of Parkinson’s other observations are equally spot on:
- “An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals”
- “Officials make work for each other.”
- The total of those employed inside a bureaucracy rose by 5-7% per year “irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done.”
(inspired by a comment by biblio-bot on this article on cutting Harvard administrators)
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The End of Free Money →
The House + Senate both passed a credit card reform bill with quite a few provisions (see the link), including:
Let’s say you’re paying many different interest rates on the debt on a single card, one for a cash advance, another for a balance transfer and a third for a new purchase. Now, when you make a payment over the minimum balance, banks will have to apply it to the highest-interest debt first. I bet you can guess how many banks used to handle this sort of situation.
This is probably a Good Thing. But one of the unintended consequences of this law will be to kill the free money credit card schemers (like myself!) have been enjoying over the past few years.
The scheme was as follows:
- Make sure you have a high credit score + sufficient credit history.
- Assemble a list of credit cards with “0% balance transfer offers.” If you have a mailbox, you’ve probably trashed junk mail offering you one of these. The way it works is the credit card companies extend you a 0% loan for a given period of time (usually one year), but if you’re not careful (i.e. you’re late on a payment, use the card for a regular purchase, don’t pay the entire loan off in time) you can get stuck with boatloads of interest.
- Apply to all of the cards (often 10 or more) with balance transfer offers at the same time. This process is known as the App-O-Rama. Every time you apply for a credit card, your credit score gets “dinged.” Applying for cards simultaneously allows you to get in a bunch of applications before your score goes down.
- Put your 0% money in a safe investment. When interest rates were higher, it wasn’t hard to find a one year CD paying 6% or more.
- Profit. I “only” made about $500 from this scheme, but others on the internet spent years earning ~6% interest on $100,000 of free money.
Now that payments will have to go to the part of your balance with the highest interest, banks won’t be able to earn enormous fees on people who mess up the balance transfers and thus are unlikely to offer them at all.
And the restrictions placed on 18-21 year olds in the Senate bill are outright absurd… but that’s worth another post.
(h/t to fatwallet finance for teaching me all that I know)
Text reblogged from Marco.org with 67 notes
What that they don’t understand, maybe, is that being a real geek is a very bad thing for a lot of people. Geeks generally had a pretty rough time in school, socially, and rarely have much romantic success during the first portion (if not the entirety) of their lives. Many have crippling social or psychological problems that severely limit their ability to interact with others or work on any sort of team.
Sure, some geeks eventually make something of themselves with knowledge and passions, but many can never overcome their social problems enough to succeed in any field. Many, while they may like geeky things with associated careers (e.g. programming, math, science), aren’t actually very good at them. Many geeky people just don’t have any strong interests in the job-relevant areas — and the job market’s pretty small for experienced LARPers, fanfiction authors, and Trekkers. And many others are socially treated like geeks but don’t have the associated knowledge or passions — they just had some other social problem that caused them a lot of trouble in school, such as disorders, disfigurements, unattractiveness, or poverty.
This geek/faux-geek distinction was really evident at ROFLCon ‘08 when Tron Guy was brushing shoulders with iJustine. Maynard (Tron Guy) is the ultimate geek to me - he loves conventions, cosplay, and his airplane - and that wasn’t going to change no matter how many people on the Internet made fun of him. On the other hand, Justine is a total queen bee - the kind of girl that ruled the playground. She may really love Apple products, but she can never be a geek in the sense Maynard can.
I should add, Tron Guy was not in the geek appreciation video, while iJustine was.
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